Intuit is planning to buy SaaS vendor Demandforce for $425 million. Demandforce bundles marketing and communications tools into a Web-based application and targets small local businesses. The deal is expected to close next month.

Demandforce was started in 2003 by Rick Berry, its president. The company was described as providing a solution for businesses that cannot afford a marketing department. It conducts social media campaigns, sends past-due reminders, performs customer satisfication surveys and contacts customers to seek referrals. It also provides services for building a company's reputation and helps schedule appointment with customers and track the performance of a business's activities.